The Nightfall Radio Program

Background

Throughout The Golden Age of Radio era, supernatural suspense thrillers were a popular staple over Radio--indeed, over early Television as well. While several were originated and produced by independent programming syndicators, the majority of the more enduring supernatural thrillers and suspense dramas originated from key stations of one of the larger networks--occasionally larger affiliate stations within a network's chain. Some of the more popular of the genre were as follows:

Though by no means all-inclusive, this brief list reflects a representative mix of some of the more popular and enduring supernatural dramas from the Golden Age. Supernatural dramas were also a recurring favorite among the various Radio dramas that postdated Radio's Golden Age. The BBC and the CBC in particular aired several popular supernatural thrillers right on through the 20th Century.

A Revival of Golden Age Radio Drama

With the passing of the Golden Age of Radio and its rich legacy of fine drama, comedy and variety, the 1980s saw a resurgence in Golden Age Radio Revival dramas, both in the U.S. and internationally. The BBC had continued to produce all manner of fine Radio drama continuously throughout the second half of the 20th Century, as did Canada's CBC, South Africa, and Australia.

But in the U.S. it was Television that dominated the second half of the 20th Century. However, on the heels of the growing commercialization of American Television and persistent criticisms of Television's vast wasteland, several National Public Radio stations, independent stations, and FM-only stations began finding and airing Radio Revival dramas and comedies to a new-found audience. CBS took a chance on Himan Brown'sCBS Radio Mystery Theater and found a late night audience that persisted for eight years between 1974 and 1982. During the same period, CBS aired the General Mills Radio Adventure Theater targeted to weekend juvenile audiences. That series proved so popular that CBS aired the entire series in rebroadcasts--minus sponsor--for another full run. As late as 1986, independent drama groups were still mounting highly enjoyable supernatural and psychological fare such as Cape Cod Mystery Theatre (1984-1986).

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) for it's part began airing a fascinating range of classic, mystery, comedy, documentary, and supernatural drama throughout the 1970s to 1990s to a steadily expanding audience--both in Canada and throughout the northern portions of the U.S.

The CBC's extensive Radio offerings were a combination of organic dramas and comedies showcasing Canada's own great actors, writers and production talent, as well as several popular transcribed, syndicated features from throughout the British Empire and the United States. Indeed many of America's most beloved, popular, versatile and award-winning character actors, musicians, and comedians were Canadian citizens who'd honed their craft in all manner of original Canadian Radio drama productions:

While the above list represents only a fraction of Canada's rich Radio legacy of the second half of the 20th Century, it does contain several CBC programs that remain highly prized by American vintage Radio collectors--if not internationally as well.

The CBC debuts a popular supernatural drama series

Drawing upon the talent of its entire coast to coast network, the CBC debuted Nightfall in the Spring of 1980. Executive-produced by either Bill Howell or Don Kowalchuk for it's entire run, CBC's Nightfall also employed the production talent of its regional production facilities:

CBC Toronto

CBC Halifax

CBC Vancouver

CBC St. Johns

CBC Calgary

CBC Montreal

On the writing side, over its 101 unique scripts Nightfall adapted the work of Edgar Alan Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson, Thomas Hardy, Honoré de Balzac, Sir Walter Scott, Edith Wharton, Charles Dickens, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and some of Canada and Great Britain's greatest emerging fiction writers. According to Neil Marsh and the dedicated fans of The Nightfall Project, Nightfall was the brainchild of Executive Producer Bill Howell and CBC Head of Radio Drama Susan Douglas Rubes. Howell, one of the CBC's most prolific content producers and Rubes, an actress hired by the CBC to revitalize the CBC's dramatic content, conceived of Nightfall as a natural showcase for CBC's deep bench of Drama talent as much as a cutting edge supernatural drama anthology. The result was one of the CBC's most popular and enduring dramatic features over its rich history. Nightfall more than exceeded Howell and Rubes' expectations and launched renewed interest in the CBC's dramatic offerings that began a period of twenty years of Canada's finest Radio Drama content.

Nightfall was followed by the CBC's Vanishing Point dramatic fiction anthology and its remarkable Mystery Project series that introduced thirty-nine new dramatic features between 1992 and 2002. It's no exaggeration to say that Nightfall successfully reinvigorated the CBC's drama content offerings to a degree never before experienced in the history of the CBC. In that respect alone, Nightfall continues to be one of the most influential dramatic offerings in CBC history. Indeed, Nightfall's popularity almost immediately caught the attention of northern tier National Public Radio stations resulting in a thirty-nine episode American showcase of Nightfall under the NPR Playhouse series of 1981 to 1982.

Initially conceived as a thirteen-week cycle of dramatic presentations from Canada's CBC and Great Britain's BBC, NPR Playhouse's second season offered:

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes [BBC] on Mondays

The Lord of the Rings [BBC], hosted by Tammy Grimes, on Tuesdays and Thursdays

Nightfall [CBC] on Fridays

NPR Playhouse's Nightfall offerings were so well received that NPR Playhouse continued airing Nightfall for another twenty-six episodes.

A sparkling mix of bold new talent and traditional formulae

Bill Howell and the CBC wisely chose to adhere to the most popular formulae that had resulted in the often wildly popular supernatural, horror, psychological, and suspense dramas that emerged during Radio's Golden Age. Reported a huge fan of American Radio thrillers and detective drama himself, it's clear that Bill Howell's respect for the dramatic formulae of his southern cousins impacted many of his production choices over the following fifteen years with the CBC. Even more ironic, Bill Howell began providing Canadian audiences the very high caliber drama content that American Radio fans had continued clamoring for--in vain--to the present day.

The all too often unsung heros of many of the U.S.-originated thrillers of the 1930s to 1960s had been its sound engineers and sound effects artists. Bill Howell also wisely chose to not only showcase CBC's own remarkably talented sound engineers during Nightfall, but clearly directed and supervised the series from as much a sound engineering standpoint as from the series' dramatic perspectives.

Canada had beaten the U.S. to the punch with stereo broadcasts of most of its programming and the stereo broadcasts of Nightfall truly showcased the series' marvelous sound engineering. Indeed it's one of the reasons we began collecting Canadian Radio Drama in the first place.

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[Date, title, and episode column annotations in red refer to either details we have yet to fully provenance or other unverifiable information as of this writing. Red highlights in the text of the 'Notes' columns refer to information upon which we relied in citing dates, date or time changes, or titles.]

80-12-19 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30 p.m. Nightfall: On Christmas Day In The Morning, from the Marjory Allingham short story. (CBC, 990)

Announces The Appetite of Mr. Lucraft as next

80-12-26

26

The Appetite of Mr Lucraft

N

80-12-26 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30 p.m. Nightfall: The Appetite Of Mr. Lucraft, from the short story by Sir Walter Besant and James Rice, about a mysterious and corporeal stranger who agrees to purchase Mr. Lucraft's appetite. (CBC, 990)

81-01-02

27

Guest of Honour

Y

[Closing announcement removed to thwart identification; padded out to 31:00]

81-01-09

28

A Shortwave Goodbye

Y

Announces The Telltale Heart as next

81-01-16

29

They Bite

N

[Circulating recordings have edited out the NPR intro for this and several other Nightfall recordings so as to pass for these earliest CBC airings]

81-01-16 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30p.m. Nightfall: They Bite, by Len Peterson, based on a story by Anthony Boucher. (CBC, 990)

81-02-27 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30 p.m. Nightfall: Wildcats, the Christian Noak short story translated by Otto Lowy. Elderly sisters in a decrepit hotel have more in store for a traveller than just their wild fantasies. (CBC, 990)

[Complete closing announcements were removed someone other than The Digital Deli Online to thwart identification]

81-05-22 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30 p.m. Nightfall: The Willoughby Obsession, by George R. Robertson concerns the mysterious life and death of Charles Willoughby, famous solicitor for underworld kingpins. (CBC, 990)

81-05-29

48

Title Unknown

N

81-06-05

49

All-Nighter

N

81-06-12

50

Title Unknown

N

81-06-19

51

Title Unknown

N

81-06-26

52

Where Do We Go From Here?

Y

[Listings note says, "Due to a labor-management dispute CBC programs are subject to change."; Last installment of the season; Replaced by Star Wars]

81-06-26 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30 p.m. Nightfall: Where Do We Go From Here, by Max Ferguson horrifying chain of events result from an ostensibly ordinary car accident. (CBC, 990)

81-07-03

1

Y

[CBC, 990 begins airing Star wars. replacing Nightfall]

81-07-10

2

Y

81-07-10 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30 p.m. Star Wars: Episode 2. The Princess Lea explains that Alderaan is a leader of the Rebellion, but neither her high office nor her status as an Imperial visitor will protect her should her affiliations be discovered. (CBC, 990)

81-07-17

3

Y

81-07-10 Winnipeg Free Press7:30 p.m. Star Wars: High among the Rebel Councils stands the Royal House of the planet Alderaan whose members supported Ihe Old Republic before it was overthrown by the Empire. (CBC, 990)

81-07-24

4

Y

81-07-31

5

Y

81-08-07

6

Y

81-08-14

7

Y

81-08-14 Winnipeg Free Press7:30 p.m. Star Wars: The Han Solo Solution, Luke, Ben and friends hook up with Han Solo and his first mate, Chewbaca, a pair of reckless smuggler-pilots, for delivery to Alderaan.
(CBC. 990)

81-08-21

8

Y

81-08-28

9

Y

81-08-28 Winnipeg Free Press7:30 p.m. Star Wars: Having fought their way past an imperial blockade. Luke Skywalker and his precious cargo make their way to Alderaan unaware that the Empire is already moving against the Rebel Alliance with all the power at its command. (CBC, 990)

81-09-18 Winnipeg Free Press7:30 p.m. Star Wars: Luke Skywalker and crew escape from the Death Star, but they soon find that their escape was only temporary. (CBC, 990)

81-09-25

13

Y

81-09-25 Winnipeg Free Press7:30 p.m. Star Wars: As the Rebels rush to scramble their tiny fleet for an assault on tne Death Star, Darth Vader returns for what may be the final battle for power. (CBC, 990)

81-11-13 Winnipeg Free Press7:30 p.m. Johnny Chase: A woman from the distant future Is pursued by the Qrugs and embroils Earth Empire Security in a desperate fight for a reincarnated future. (CBC, 990)

81-11-20

1

Carmilla

Y

[Second Season premiere;
Complete closing announcements were removed by someone other than The Digital Deli Online to thwart identification]

81-11-27 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30 p.m. Nightfall: In The Eye Of The Beholder  A crusty old farmer is visited by a mysterious young man who has come to extract a hideous revenge for a wrong committed 20 years ago. (CBC, 990)

Announces Cemetery Stop as next

81-12-04

3

Cemetery Stop

Y

[Complete closing announcements were removed someone other than The Digital Deli Online to thwart identification]

81-12-04 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30 p.m. Nightfall: Cemetery Stop, by Margery Stewart  Bus driver who may have been responsible for his wife's death must drive past her cemetery night after night. (CBC, 990)

81-12-11

4

In the Name of the Father

Y

81-12-11 Winnipeg Free Press7:30 p.m. Nightfall: In The Name of the Father, by Janet Bonellie  psychological horror story about a writer on the point of a nervous breakdown. (CBC, 990)

Announces Baby Doll as next

81-12-18

5

Baby Doll

Y

[Complete closing announcements were removed someone other than The Digital Deli Online to thwart identification]

81-12-18 Winnipeg Free Press7:30 p.m. Nightfall: Baby Doll by Larry LeClair. A childless couple's life is transformed by a mysterious antique doll, but not for the best. (CBC, 990)

81-12-25

6

Title Unknown

N

82-01-01

7

Reunion at The Victory Cafe

Y

[Recording padded out to 31:00]

Announces Gerald as next

82-01-08

8

Gerald

N

82-01-08 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30 p.m. Nightfall: Gerald, by Bill Gray  A 10-year-old boy, the son of a small town minister, becomes a devastating instrument for the powers of darkness. (CBC, 990)

82-01-15

9

Mindrift

Y

[Complete closing announcements were removed someone other than The Digital Deli Online to thwart identification]

Announces "We return to the nether world of carnival where fortunes are made and told . . . " as next

82-01-22

10

Your Fortune in Twenty Words or Less

Y

82-01-22 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30 p.m. Nightfall: Your Fortune In Twenty Words Or Less, by Larry LeClair. The story of a carnival tortune teller who is visited by an old master of the art. Cast includes David Ferry, Greg Rogers, Wendell Smith and Brian Taylor. (CBC, 990)

Announces Teddy as next

82-01-29

11

Teddy

Y

82-02-05

12

Child's Play

Y

82-02-05 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30 p.m. Nightfall: Child's Play, by Arthur Samuels. A ghostly chorus of children surrounds a country house that has been the scene of several bizarre deaths. (CBC, 990)

82-02-12

13

The Club of Dead Men

N

82-02-12 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30 p.m. Nightfall: The Club of Dead Men  A Canadian student at Cambridge discovers that membership In a secret diabolical society does not necessarily conclude with one's death. (CBC, 990)

82-02-19

14

The Thinking Room

Y

[Complete closing announcements were removed someone other than The Digital Deli Online to thwart identification]

82-02-19 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30 p.m. Nightfall: The Thinking Room, by Tim Wynne-Jones. A would-be suicide Is placed In a room where he can finally hear his own thoughts. (CBC, 990)

82-02-26 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30 p.m. Nightfall: The Porch Light, by Randy Brown. An innocent young couple purchase a house In the country only to discover that it has more character than they can handle. (CBC, 990)

82-03-05

16

Volcano

Y

Announces The Monkey's Raincoat as next

82-03-12

17

The Monkey's Raincoat

Y

82-03-12 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30 p.m. Nightfall: The Monkey's Raincoat, by Charles Tidler. Assassination is the name of the game as the president-elect is ushered through his Inaugural day festivities. (CBC, 990)

82-03-19

18

From My Appointed Place Below

Y

82-03-19 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30 p.m. Nightfall: From My Appointed Place Below, by Walter Scott  a story of the power that an ancient land of the castle holds over his subject, even in death. (CBC, 990)

[Complete closing announcements were removed by someone other than The Digital Deli Online to defeat identification]

82-04-02 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30 p.m. Nightfall: The Debt, by John Richard Wright  group of youne college men set out to initiate new boy into their fraternity by playing a prank that has tragic results.
(CBC, 990)

82-04-09

21

Harris and The Mare

Y

[Complete closing announcements were removed by someone other than The Digital Deli Online to defeat identification]

82-04-16

22

The Jogger

Y

82-04-16 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30 p.m. Nightfall: The Jogger, by Tony Bell ex-athlete discovers more than he bargained for when he tries to get back into shape. (CBC. 990)

82-04-23

23

The Screaming Skull

Y

82-04-23 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30 p.m. Nightfall: The Screaming Skull, a story by Marion Crawford  set in a lonely house by the sea in Nova Scotia, the story reveals that those who inherit the house mysteriously die. (CBC, 990)

82-05-14 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30 p.m. Nightfall: The Maid's Bell, adapted by John Douglas from the story by Edith Wharton. A woman takes employment at an old mansion and finds herself drawn into a web of unspoken and inexplicable dread. (CBC, 990)

[Note: according to Nightfall expert Neil Marsh, Silver Donald Cameron has no memory or record of a story titled Belinda; it may have simply been listed in error]

82-05-28 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30 p.m. Nightfall: Belinda, by Silver Donald Cameron. After a terrible accident, a woman is left both blind and legless. Her brother and a scheming lawyer conspire to get her to sign over her piece of the farm. (CBC, 990)

82-06-04

29

Beyond the Law

Y

Announces Turn of The Blood as next

82-06-11

30

Turn of The Blood

Y

82-06-11 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30 p.m. Nightfall: Turn of the Blood, adapted from Thomas Hardy's short story The Withered Arm, by Paul Bettis  A mysterious curse Is visited on a young bride.
(CBC, 990)

82-06-18

31

Reverse Image

Y

[Recording padded out to 31:00]

Announces Teig O'Kane and The Corpse as next

82-06-25

32

Teig O'Kane and The Corpse

Y

82-06-25 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30 p.m. Nightfall: Teig O'Kane And The Corpse, by Douglas Hyde. Story of a wild Irish boy who gets his comeuppance from a malicious band of elves whose special job it is to punish young scalllwags.(CBC, 990)

82-07-02

33

They Bite

Y

82-07-02 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30 p.m. Nightfall: They Bite, by ten Peterson, based on the story by Anthony Boucher  a paleontologist and Vietnam veteran is pitted against predatory desert shadows. (CBC, 990)

82-07-09

34

Wildcats

Y

82-07-09 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30 p.m. Nightfall: Wildcats, the Christian Noak short .story adpated and translated by Otto Lowy  Two elderly sisters in a decrepit country hotel have more in store for a traveller than just their wild fantasies. (CBC, 990}

82-12-03 Winnipeg Free Press7:30 p.m. Nightfall: Daddy's Girl by Janet Bonellie. A Canadian medical worker is sent to a small Caribbean island where he gets mixed up in a conspiracy of voodoo. (CBC,
990)

[Complete closing announcements were removed someone other than The Digital Deli Online to thwart identification]

83-01-28

62

The Contract

Y

Announces Beauty's Beast as next

83-02-04

63

Beauty's Beast

Y

[Complete closing announcements were removed someone other than The Digital Deli Online to thwart identification]

83-02-04 Winnipeg Free Press7:30 p.m. Nightfall: Beauty's Beast, a radio play by Burke Campbell. The doctor's daughter, Victoria, was disfigured in a car crash, yet now she is more beautiful than ever before. What is the secret of her father's rejuvenation technique? (CBC, 990)

83-04-29 Winnipeg Free Press
7:30 p.m Nightfall: After Sunset by Brian Taylor. When a small boy is found dead after being mutilated, the whole town becomes frightened of the eerie things that seem to be happening without explanation after dark. (CBC, 990)

83-05-06

76

The Servants of Cerberus

Y

Announces Waters Under the Bridge as next

83-05-13

77

Waters Under the Bridge

Y

Announces a series of Arthur C. Clarke Sci-Fi programs from the BBC, A Fall of Moondust as next

83-05-20

1

A Fall of Moondust Episode 1

Y

[Begins a cycle of six BBC Sci-Fi programs, hosted by Arthur C. Clarke]

83-05-27

2

A Fall of Moondust Episode 2

Y

83-06-03

3

A Fall of Moondust Episode 3

Y

Announces "Next week Part 1 of The Chrysalids"

83-06-10

4

The Chrysalids Episode 1

N

[Circulating alleged Nightfall: Arthur C. Clarke's World of Science Fiction recording is actually an edited fake from the original broadcast of the Arthur Clarke series over the BBC]

83-06-17

5

The Chrysalids Episode 2

Y

[Heavily edited; padded out to 31:00 to fool the collector]

83-06-24

6

The Chrysalids Episode 3

N

[Circulating alleged Nightfall: Arthur C. Clarke's World of Science Fiction recording is actually an edited fake from the original broadcast of the Arthur Clarke series over the BBC]

83-11-18 Winnipeg Free Press10:15 p.m. Nightfall: The Monkey's Raincoat, by Charles Tidier. In this futuristic fantasy about the assassination of a country's president, the world of 1994 comes ever closer. CBC. 98.3)

The Nightfall Radio Program Log [National Public Radio]

Date

Episode

Title

Avail.

Notes

81-10-02

1

Love and the Lonely One

Y

81-09-24 Orange County Register

Public radio introduces new series

By Gary LycanNational Public Radio is introducing a new drama strip, NPR Playhouse, to be aired daily on KCRW/89.9 FM, a Santa Monica station which beams its signal into Orange County.
The playhouse will include these shows: Nightfall, a 13-week adventure series, at 1:30 p.m. Fridays starting Oct. 2; The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, at 1:30 p.m. Mondays starting Oct. 5; The Lord of the Rings, hosted by Tammy Grimes, at 1:30 p.m. Tuesdays starting Oct. 6.
Nightfall is a production of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation; Holmes and Lord of the Rings are BBC products. Also debuting on KCRW  at 1 p.m. Mondays starting Oct. 5  is First Person America: Voices From The Thirties, a six-part series produced by WGBH, Boston. It recreates lives of Americans through dramatized narratives.

81-10-01 Orange County RegisterKLON 88 FM is airing the NPR Playhouse series at 6:30 weeknights. The lineup includes Sherlock Holmes Monday, Lord of the Rings Tuesday and Thursday, Nightfall Friday...

81-10-16 Wisconsin State Journal
10 p.m.--Nightfall (WERN): "The Willoughby Obsession" by George R. Robertson is a gruesome story about the life and death of a solicitor for the kingpins of the underworld.

Announces "Tonights program concludes a 13-week run for Nightfall in the United States and it marks the first time the CBC has had the opportunity to broadcast one of our radio drama series outside Canada."